- Joined
- Jun 1, 2018
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- 137
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I am going on year 2 of my first saltwater tank and so far I've been enjoying all the DIY parts (built the stand, working on the water mixing station, etc...), I do not mind at all the regular cleaning and water changes but one thing I had not expected was the work and stress associated with getting new fish.
I've been up to 8 fish in my 120G tank but besides those I have lost several in quarantine or who disappeared as soon as I introduced them to the tank.
To top it all, I had a velvet outbreak last year that wiped out all but 2 of my fish.
I do not pretend to be an expert or know it all, by far, but I have done my homework by reading articles and forum posts about the need to quarantine, the type of medications needed in quarantine, how to acclimate new fish, make sure the less territorial/aggressive fish gets added first, on introducing new fish with the lights off, etc...
I now have my 120G tank with only a clown and a damsel and I want to start adding new fish but the anxiety about the quarantine process and my low success rate is ruining the pleasure of the hobby for me.
I do know that there is no LFS or online store that can be trusted enough to bypass the quarantine and I am not about to take a gamble after my velvet fiasco.
How do you deal with acquiring, quarantining and introducing new fish? Am I the only one getting overly stressed about it?
Are there other ways to acquire fish that would somewhat alleviate that? I have heard of people charging to do the quarantine for you. I am assuming it's only for expensive fish though as quarantining a clown fish is probably not worth it for them.
Any story, advice, recommendations would be greatly appreciated as now this one thing is taking all the fun out of it for me.
Thank you
I've been up to 8 fish in my 120G tank but besides those I have lost several in quarantine or who disappeared as soon as I introduced them to the tank.
To top it all, I had a velvet outbreak last year that wiped out all but 2 of my fish.
I do not pretend to be an expert or know it all, by far, but I have done my homework by reading articles and forum posts about the need to quarantine, the type of medications needed in quarantine, how to acclimate new fish, make sure the less territorial/aggressive fish gets added first, on introducing new fish with the lights off, etc...
I now have my 120G tank with only a clown and a damsel and I want to start adding new fish but the anxiety about the quarantine process and my low success rate is ruining the pleasure of the hobby for me.
I do know that there is no LFS or online store that can be trusted enough to bypass the quarantine and I am not about to take a gamble after my velvet fiasco.
How do you deal with acquiring, quarantining and introducing new fish? Am I the only one getting overly stressed about it?
Are there other ways to acquire fish that would somewhat alleviate that? I have heard of people charging to do the quarantine for you. I am assuming it's only for expensive fish though as quarantining a clown fish is probably not worth it for them.
Any story, advice, recommendations would be greatly appreciated as now this one thing is taking all the fun out of it for me.
Thank you